Death Weapon Online
by Alisa180
Summary: Resident geek Maka, is excited for the latest VRMMO, Death Weapon Online. But once she logs in, she finds that she can't log out! Worse, to die in the game means to die in real life! With help of fellow trapped player, Soul, they must survive this world and work to create the only escape: A Death Scythe! SoulxMaka. Inspired by Sword Art Online.
1. Link Start

This is not a good time for me writing wise. In my most recent crossover, I found a HUGE plothole that invalidates the entire plot. In my other story, the same prompt has been taken up by a well-known, and far superior author, who is doing a fantastic job with it. I don't have a prayer.

In need of inspiration, I recently started watching Sword Art Online. I'm hooked, I admit it. It also got the wheels of my mind turning. Resulting in this AU.

I feel I should emphasize, this is NOT a crossover with Sword Art Online in any traditional sense. I have an idea for an actual Sword Art Online crossover, but time will tell if I actually post it. Some basic concepts from SAO are used here, but you will find little else. No characters from SAO, and other then a few things like the Nerve Gear and VRMMOs, nothing else from there is here. This does not even take place in Aincard, SAO's first MMO setting. I simply wish to emphasize this point in case people either think that this belongs in the crossover section, or expect Kirito to appear.

Okay, with that out of the way, I hope you enjoy this story!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything associated with Soul Eater or Sword Art Online

/

It was finally time!

Maka looked at the game box in her hand. The cover showed a dark, fantasy landscape, with the words, _Death Weapon Online _in fancy script. She cracked open the box carefully, revealing the game CD. A wave of giddy excitement went through her and she shivered. She gently removed the disk and placed the box on her desk. Leaning down, she slotted the game disk into the large electronic box located under her desk.

Standing up, she took a few steps over to the large VR bed nearby. She paused for a moment, reaching out and running her hand along it.

Maka was a geek. That was the undeniable truth. She usually read novels in her spare time, but a while back, a friend of hers had insisted that she tried playing a RPG that had come out recently. She had been reluctant, her knowledge of games at the time limited to shooters. Such games, where you shot and blew your way through, came off as mindless to her and she wasn't interested. Still, she had decided to humor her friend and tried the game anyway.

It had been nothing short of a revelation for her. A beautiful fantasy world, fighting monsters for experience, and a story to rival any novel she had read. It had turned her world upside down. Suddenly, she found herself devouring all kinds of games, at first just RPGs, but eventually she had moved on to action-adventures, platformers, and, a personal favorite of hers, visual novels.

In time, it had led her to VRMMOs. Full immersive virtual reality MMOs, able to put a player fully in a game using the Nerve Gear, a neural VR interface. She enjoyed herself in these, both playing with other people, and being completed enfolded in worlds straight out of her books.

Death Weapon Online was the latest VRMMO, developed by the maker of the Nerve Gear himself. All over the world, people were snatching up copies of the game, determined to be among the first to enter the new game.

With another shiver of excitement, she lay on the VR bed. Placing the Gear over her head, she made sure it was adjusted comfortably. She took a deep breath.

"Link Start!"

n/n/n/n/

Maka's first thought when she finally materialized in the world of Death Weapon was that it was a bit creepy. The starting town, Death City, looked like someplace out of a macrebe style flick, with a skull motif present in several areas. The sun didn't help either. It had a creepy face, and if one listened closely enough above the hustle and bustle of the city, they could actually hear the sun laughing.

On top of that, it felt like summer. Death City was apparently located in the middle of a large desert. An unusual choice for a starting area. More unusual, the city felt strangely modern. It clearly wasn't a medieval setting, but something entirely different instead. Many players and NPCs wore outfits that wouldn't be out of place in the real world. Summer herself wore a white shirt and black skirt.

She was now exploring the city, aware of the stares that she was attracting. She smiled to herself.

She was proud of the avatar she had made. It was her usual style, a busty, good-looking girl who always turned heads. A few people recognized her and called to her.

"Summer, is that you?"

"Your avatar is cute, as usual!"

"Holy crap, you really outdid yourself this time!"

"Nice to see you here!"

"Summer! Good to see you from Vengence!"

'Summer' merely giggled and continued admiring the city.

It had been unintentional, really.

Maka had started playing her first VRMMO around the time her parents divorced. Frustrated with her father's infidelity, she had intentionally created the kind of female avatar that turned heads. She wanted to prove to herself that men were just as shallow as she believed them to be.

Sadly, she had proved herself right.

Summer, as she traditionally called herself, was a hit with the guys. When she was just starting out, she had been pelted with offers of help and assistance. This had grown even more intense after people figured out that there was an actual girl behind the character. As time went on, Summer's reputation not just as a flirty seductress, but also as a skilled VRMMO player had earned her a significant amount of recognition. The combination of hot and badass was very appealing for a lot of guys.

It disgusted Maka

"Summer!"

She turned around, in time to see another regular, Arthur, approach. She mentally groaned. She didn't want to deal with him right now.

Despite that, she still smiled, "Hi Arthur! Gotten used to the game yet?"

Arthur smiled, "Not yet, still learning my way around. They say some beta testers are hanging around, want to try finding them for advice?"

Summer shook her head, "No thanks, I'd rather figure it out on my own." Her smiled then turned suggestive and she leaned in close, "If you keep up with me this time, perhaps later this week…?"

If he could, Maka was certain Arthur would have blushed. He stood up straight, "I'll keep up! You'll see! This is going to be my time!" He then ran off.

"Good luck with that," Maka whispered under her breath. Arthur was traditionally a bit of a loser. A nice guy, but a loser. His claim to fame, however, was that he always, always, somehow got ahold of the most powerful weapons first. No one knew how. Not even Arthur himself.

Another person called for her, and she drew her head to them. It was an old guild master of hers, and they spent some time chatting.

She had never meant for her Summer persona to grow the way it did. Yet here she was, an unintentional staple of the VRMMO scene. She had a love-hate relationship with the person she portrayed herself to be. On one hand, Summer had a lot of influence, and she didn't even have that bad of a personality. She was actually fairly kind and helpful, always willing to help a struggling player or point a newcomer in the right direction. She was often seen in high positions in powerful guilds. It was kind of nice, having so much fame.

On the other hand, Summer was undeniably a female slut. A floozy. A cheat. A succubus who always surrounded by men, each of them wrapped around her finger. It was so much like a female version of her father that Maka hated it. That hate was amplified by the fact that she doubted any of those same guys would probably never even give her the time of day if they saw what she really looked like.

Horrible lot, all of them.

Summer saw several more familiar players, many of whom she had met from various VRMMOs. They were all excited about Death Weapon, and they were all eager to get started. From what Maka deduced, there were about ten thousand players in this first wave. There was a rumor going around that further players were having trouble getting into the game.

Finally, Maka decided that it was time to get cracking. Finishing up her socialization, she walked over to a local weapon stall to pick her first weapon.

"First weapon for beginners is free!" The NPC merchant said cheerfully, "Pick carefully!"

Summer nodded in understanding and looked over the offerings. In Death Weapon Online, the player picked a weapon specialization. This could be changed, but it took some work, so it was an important choice. It was compensated by the fact that there were a wide range of weapon choices, some of them fairly unique from traditional VRMMO fare. In addition, weapon specialization played into an important feature of the game.

"I'll take this one please!" Summer lifted up an impressive looking scythe. Maka had decided that scythes would be her specialization. In a town like this, it could be beneficial to come off as a Grim Reaper of sorts.

"Are you sure?" The merchant asked.

Summer nodded, "Positive!"

"Alright, it's yours! Take care and please come again!"

She added the scythe to her inventory. Slinging it across her back, she began to make her way to the city exit.

It was time to start training.

n/n/n/n/

"Aw man, people are pairing up already!"

At the nearby player's complaints, Summer turned her head. A player nearby was wielding large boxing gloves against the local monsters, large sand boars. Her first thought was that those were interesting weapons to choose. Then the gloves glowed, and in a flash of light, took the form of people, a young girl and boy.

So people were taking that step already, Maka thought to herself, as she used to scythe to slash at a nearby sand boar. She wanted to wait a few levels first. She figured that if she had some strength before finding a partner, it would make life slightly easier for her.

'Pairing up,' as it was called, was one of the most important parts of the game, and one of its big draws. When a person created a character, they could choose to be either a 'meister' or, incredibly, a 'Demon Weapon.' Demon Weapon characters were able to actually transform into a usable weapon. Not just a usable weapon, but the intention was for a Demon Weapon to pair with a meister and act as the primary weapon for a meister character.

Actual dramatic player transformation had never been tried in a VRMMO before. Much less in the way that Death Weapon Online was doing it. Lots of people were interested in the game for that reason alone. Maka guessed that roughly half the players chose to be Demon Weapons. Summer was a meister character.

Maka continued thinking to herself as Summer ripped through boars. She definitely wanted a Demon Scythe partner. A girl preferably. Pairing up looked like fun.

She eventually found herself in a less populated part of the field. She took a moment from her training to observe the area. Aside from the city that loomed above the desert, she could see nothing but sand for miles. There was probably an invisible wall or something if she got far enough out. There was a mode of transportation, the Warp, which led to other areas, but that could only be accessed by characters who had completed the beginner quest to join the game organization, the Death Weapon Meister Academy. And that quest could only be accessed by those who had partnered up. Even then, that particular quest hadn't opened up yet. The word was that it would be available after the launch event later.

The city was huge, she thought to herself, gazing up at it. It was odd. In game towns were almost never that big. She could even say that it was possibly the biggest game city she had ever seen. A true city.

"Oi, is this area taken?"

Summer turned her head in time to see a rather handsome white-haired boy walk up, glancing around the area. "Everywhere else is crowded," he said, "I can barely get a kill in."

Summer sighed, but then smiled, "I'm not leaving, but I'll happily step back and let you train for a bit."

"That works, thanks." He unsheathed a sword.

"You're a sword specialist?" Summer asked, sounding curious.

"Not really," the boy replied, positioning himself near some enemies, "I'm actually a Demon Scythe. I want to try seeing if I can gain a couple of levels before partnering up. Make myself slightly more attractive to perspectives."

A Demon Scythe! Summer checked his avatar name, which popped up in her vision near him. 'Soul Eater.' Creepy, but strangely fitting for the setting.

Maka found herself in a bit of a dilemma. On one hand, here was a Demon Scythe. Who knew when she might find another one? With so many weapon forms to choose from, there was no guarantee she would find any specific Demon Weapon anytime soon.

On the other hand, it was a boy. She had really wanted a girl for her partner. Summer's slutty reputation was bad enough! It would be completely in character for her to choose a pretty-look boy for her partner.

Slightly frustrated, she watched him hack away at the nearby monsters. In the end, she swallowed her pride and approached.

"You said that you were a Demon Scythe, right?"

"Yeah," was the dispassionate response.

"Well, I happen to be a scythe specialist. Want to partner up?"

Soul finished off another boar. He turned around to face Summer, "Really?"

She smiled cheerfully, "Of course, it could be fun," her smile turned suggestive, "I could really show you a good time." Oh god, Maka thought to herself, Summer had not just said that.

Soul paused, and from the way his eyes quickly moved, Maka could tell that he was checking her name. "Summer," he muttered, "That explains a lot."

"Heard of me?" Summer cocked her head cutely while still smiling.

"On forums, yeah," he looked at her carefully.

"Then you should know that it's you're lucky day. I'm a VRMMO veteran, and I always get into top guilds!"

He didn't respond, merely continued looking right at her, observing her. Maka felt her patience start to run thin.

"Is something wrong?"

"Why would you roleplay a whore when you clearly hate it?"

That caught Maka off guard. She stared at him, for a moment, before regaining her composure, forcing a smile, "What are you talking about?"

"You don't have to keep acting you know," Soul summoned his menu in front of him and began poking through it with his hand, "I'll be your partner, if only because I'm curious to know who the real 'Summer' is."

"I have no idea what you mean," Summer replied as she summoned her own menu with her hand. Going through the options, she found the one that would allow partner invites. There was a notice that she had actually already received several. Of course . She shifted through them until she found Soul's invite. She tapped it, than hit 'accept.' A notice informed her that she was now Soul Eater's meister.

"There we go!" She dismissed the menu with a wave. She looked up at him, "Want to try it out?"

"Not right now, I want to gain at least one more level before I leave."

She giggled, "Fair enough."

He cast her another look, "I told you, you can cut the act."

Summer didn't get a chance to respond before he went right back to killing monster. Maka watched him warily. He could tell she was acting? He was the first to see through it. Or perhaps others had also seen through, but hadn't called her out on it? But why? Perhaps because, Maka though gloomily, they hadn't wanted to. They wanted to think that there was really a girl like that, even if it was a lie.

After a while, the creepy sun started to set. It even, Maka noted, looked like to was starting to fall asleep, its face droopy.

Soul sheathed his sword and glanced at the sun. "That's interesting." He look out at the vast desert, "Aren't VRMMOs supposed to be more visually impressive then this?"

"Is this your first one?" Summer asked, walked up.

"It's my first VRMMO to be more accurate. I've played regular MMOs before, and a few single-player VR games. But this is my first full-fledged VRMMO."

"Interesting," she coked her head at him, "Unique experience from either, huh?"

"I'll say," he summoned his menu, "Dinner's probably almost ready back home. I better log out."

Summer blinked, "But we haven't even tried fighting together yet!"

"I'll be back later tonight," Soul said, yawning, "I don't want to miss the launch event. But I'll get in trouble if I'm not at dinner on time."

"Alright," Summer bowed her head in understanding, "I'll go catch up with some friends and see you later then." She pivoted on her heel, intent on returning to the city and seeing if she could find some guildmates from her old MMO. Get the gang back together, so to speak.

"Huh, that's weird."

She glanced over her shoulder, "What's wrong?"

Soul was hovering his fingers over the menu, "I can't find the logout button."

"It should be somewhere in the system menu," Maka brought up her own menu. She tapped through the various options. She found one that look promising. She picked it and observed the options. Then froze.

There was a blank space where the logout button should be.

"This can't be right…"

"Maybe it's a bug?" Soul suggested.

Maka frowned, "Maybe," she looked away from him, entrenched in thought, "We should call a GM."

"I'm doing that right now," she glanced over at his menu, and saw the animation she assumed was associated with a GM call, "No one's picking up," He dismissed his menu and looked at her, "Is there any other way to log out?" He asked.

She shook her head, "No, there isn't any other way to log out. Not even an emergency logout was listed in the manual…" her voice trailed off. She looked around the area, "The Nerve Gear intercepts all brain activity too, so we can't move our bodies to remove it."

"So," she looked back at Soul, "What do we do?"

"We wait for someone to remove our Nerve Gears for us I guess," Maka sighed, "I'll probably be stuck here for a while if that's the case. My mother is out on a trip."

"I should be out of here in any second then," Soul remarked. He ran his hand through his hair, "My father's going to be pissed."

"I'm sure he'll be more understanding once you explain the situation," Maka assured him, "You'll have plenty of proof likely, something like this is bound to be all over the Internet." She looked up at the city, "It's strange though. Even if we can't logout, they can shut down the servers and log everyone out themselves. It's something I would assume they would do for such a severe bug. On top of that, if this keeps up, it could affect the game's future."

"So we wait until someone either removes the Gear or they kick us out?"

"That sums it up." She brought up her menu again, and looked over it. Maybe she should message some of her friends that she had saw earlier…?

There was a loud sound. Maka's head snapped up. It sounded like a bell ringing. She frowned. She didn't remember seeing a bell big enough to make a sound that loud anywhere in the city. Then again, with how big the city was…

She suddenly found herself surrounded by light. When it faded, she saw that she was in a huge plaza. She looked next to her and saw Soul, looking around in confusion.

"What just happened?" He asked.

Someone forced a warp," she said. All around them, players were warping in. Confused chatter was all around, all asking the same questions.

"What's going on?"

"Is this an event?"

"What's happening?"

"Look up there!" Maka looked up. A red square had appeared that said, 'Warning: System Announcement.' It blinked for a moment, before suddenly red squares filled the entire sky, casting a sinister red glow over the area.

A black ball appeared. It grew, until it towered over the player. Then, it began changing shape. The material twisted and warped, until they were all looking at a large black figure, hovering over them all.

"Welcome," He said, "To Death Weapon Online. I am Asan Kiran, the creator of Death Weapon Online, and the Nerve Gears."

That was the creator? What was he doing here?

"As of now, I am in sole control of Death Weapon Online. Some of you may have noticed by now, but the logout button is missing from your menus. This is not a bug. I repeat, this is not a bug. This is a feature of Death Weapon Online."

Disturbed murmurs. Asan continued, "In addition, if anyone tries to remove your Nerve Gear, the transmitter in the Gear will emit a powerful microwave, destroying your brain."

"What?" Soul snapped his head to Maka, "Is that possible?"

Maka just kept looked up at Asan, "The Nerve Gear does use microwaves. If the safety was removed," she threw her gaze at Soul, "It is possible for it to destroy your brain!"

"Sadly," Asan continued, "Some players' friends and families have already tried to remove the Gear. As of now, there are currently two-hundred and thirteen less of you." A gasp rippled through the crowd. What looked like Internet news sites appeared around Asan, "The incident has made international news, as you can see. It is highly unlikely that anyone will try to remove your gears."

"What if they tried cutting the power?" Soul asked, glancing at Maka.

"The Gear has its own internal battery," she replied. In other words, they were stuck. Completely and utterly.

"As of now, there is no longer anyway to revive players. When you die, at the same time, the transmitter will send out a mircrowave, destroying your brain and killing you."

The crowd was becoming more panicked. Maka looked around. A couple of people were trying to leave the plaza, only to be bumping against a force field. It seemed like Asan had trapped them for the duration of the event. She leaned in close to Soul, "As soon as that force field lifts, follow me. I don't want to be here when the riot starts."

Soul nodded, but his gaze was fixated on something. She followed it. In the news videos being displayed, there was a family. A woman was crying, while a man and an older teenager tried to comfort her. Soul's family?

The sites vanished. Asan continued, "There is only one way to escape the game. You must clear it. For those of you who don't know, the main objective of the game is to turn a Demon Weapon player into a 'Death Scythe.' This is done by defeating 99 kishin bosses, and one witch boss."

"He's kidding!" One person said, "Not even the beta testers were able to pull that off!"

"Death Scythe players and meisters who have created a Death Scythe have the privilege of entering and exiting the game at will. They can also grant this ability to other players as well," He stuck out a hand, "In you inventories, I have left each of you a gift. Please accept it."

Maka summoned her menu and accessed her inventory. An item called 'Mirror' had been added. She selected it, and caught it as it materialized. What did this do? Suddenly, another light enveloped her. The plaza became bright for a moment. The light then faded.

Maka blinked. She looked around. Everyone looked…different. She herself felt different.

"Who are you?" Maka looked over. Next to her, was a boy with spikey white hair, red eyes, and, if she looked closely, sharp, shark-like teeth.

"I should be asking you the same thing!" She replied.

"I'm Soul, what are you talking about? What about you?"

"I'm Summer, remember?"

"You can't be Summer…" Soul's voice trailed off uncertainly. With a sinking feeling, Maka looked into the mirror.

Oh crap.

A plain-looking face with green eyes stared back at her. Limp, ash-blonde pigtails hung from her head. She looked over herself. No wonder she felt different. Summer had significant assets. Maka was as flat as a board.

She looked up, "Soul?"

Soul stared at her, "Wow, you're actually Summer," he smiled, showing off his sharp teeth, laughing slightly, "This actually explains a lot!"

"Shut up!" She hissed. She glanced at the mirror again, "The Nerve Gear uses a high-density scanner, that's how it knows our faces. It drew the rest of the data from when we preformed calibration during set-up, since that involved patting down our bodies."

"Why do that though?"

Maka looked around, "We are going to be here for a long time. I don't think anyone wants to be in a body that's not theirs for a long period of time. Well, maybe they would, but I don't think it would have positive mental effects. I read once that guys who play girl character for a long period of time…it doesn't do any favors for their minds."

Asan spoke, "Many of you are currently wondering what my goal in this was. That goal has been accomplished. To create a world that I can control." Maka clenched her fist. "This concludes the tutorial, and the launch of Death Weapon Online. The Death Weapon Meister Academy has now opened up. Good luck players."

He vanished. Red squares faded, and normal light returned. The force field dissipated.

A shocked silence fell over the crowd. Maka took the hint. She tugged on Soul's arm, "Let's go."

"Where are we going?" He asked, as he followed her through the crowd. She led him out of the plaza and into the city.

"You heard him," she said, opening up her menu. An alert to accept the DWMA quest had arrived. Perfect. "The DWMA opened up. You need to do a quest to get in and get to the main part of the game. That quest is going to become a choke point. We need to complete the quest now before people flood it and make it impossible. Then, we need to use the Warp to get to another field to train. The area around the city is going to be picked clean soon."

"I see," Soul said, opening up his own menu, "What about everything that guy said? Was…it true?"

"No doubt about it," Maka replied, "He's the creator of both the Nerve Gear and this game. Everything he said was true."

She paused for a moment, stopping in the street. "What's wrong?" Soul stepped around, concern evident on his features.

She looked down at herself. She had another problem. How would people react when they found out just how much about Summer was fake?

"So, that's what you really look like?" She looked up at him and nodded,

"Yeah, just a plain, looking girl with no sex appeal whatsoever."

"You look younger too. Summer always looked like she was seventeen or something. How old are you?"

"Fourteen."

"Huh, so I am. You look nice."

Maka glared at him, "Don't say that!"

Soul stepped back, holding up his hand defensively, "What? It was a compliment! You look better this way!"

"Not true!" She looked down at herself, "No guy would want anything to do with me. No one's going to want anything to do with me anymore!"

"Why not?"

"Because Summer was fake! Once they find that out, I won't have anything here!"

"That's not true," Soul shot at her, "Sure, Summer was known as a slut, but she was also known as a skilled VRMMO player, and a good person in general. Anyone who looks past your looks will realize that."

"And how many do you think will actually do that?" Maka asked icily, "If a guy had to chose between a good looking girl with passable skills, or a plain-looking one with excellent ones, they'll pick the good-looking one every time. Part of the reason Summer got as far as she did was because so many guys were willing to help her for the chance to get with her!"

"That last part may be true, but I bet there will be lots of people out there willing to have you on your credentials from past MMOs alone. Anyone who doesn't want someone like you is an idiot!"

"News flash, guys ARE idiots!"

"Does that include me?"

"Yes! You'll just stick around long enough to complete the quest, then you'll ditch me for some hot girl!"

"What if I said I won't?"

Maka looked away. _"I promise I won't do it again."_ Tears gathered in her eyes, "Your word isn't good enough."

Soul sighed, running a hand through his hair, "Then how about this. At least let me stick around. I'll show you that I won't leave."

Maka started walking past him, not willing to look him in the eye, "If you still want to be partners, that's fine with me. But you'll eventually prove my point. I've proved it myself several times over."

"Is that why you made Summer? To prove a point?"

She stopped, "That's none of your business."

She heard him approach her again, "Do you want to still be partners with me?"

Maka turned those words over in her head, "Truthfully, I did want a girl as a partner…" she sensed him stop near her, "But…" The tears came again, unbidden. She turned around to look at Soul, "I do still want a friend."

"Don't you have friends?" He shook his head in realization, "No, you don't. 'Summer' had friends. But you yourself didn't. No one ever knew who you truly were, did they?" She looked away again. "That's not much fun, you know? You clearly hated how you were acting. But I guess it was hard to back out of Summer after she became so popular."

Maka shut her eyes, "Summer was never supposed to last as long as she did."

"I figured that she was just an act" he stepped forward, smiling a little now.

She glanced back up at him, "How did you figure it out?"

"Your smile was fake. So were your actions," he placed a hand on her shoulder, "Nothing reached your eyes, and you were clearly miserable. Why do it in the first place?"

Maka shook her head, placing a hand on his and gently pushing it off, "It's…complicated…"

He nodded in understanding, "I get it. I won't push it in that case," he smiled, "I look forward to getting to know the real Summer."

She wiped away her tears, "Thank you. But why…?"

"Like I said, Summer was a nice girl. I figure that couldn't have been completely fake. Now, we have a crowd to beat. Let's get going." He started walked past her.

She looked down. She clasped her hands behind her back, "Also, Soul?"

"Hm?" He stopped and looked over at her.

"C-can you call me Maka instead?" she fidgeted, "I'm not Summer anymore…" There was no way she was going to be able to pull off the Summer persona anymore. Not like this. It was no use acting anymore.

Soul turned completely around to face her in surprise, "Is that your real name?"

"Does it matter?"

"I guess not," he smiled, "Glad you trust me with it."

"It won't be just you. That's what I'm going to go by in this world now." A fresh start. Well, hopefully not completely fresh. It would be nice if just a few of her old friends would help her. But she wouldn't be surprised if any of them no longer wanted anything to do with her.

"I see," he turned around, "Well, we need to get going, don't we? I look forward to working with you tiny tits!"

Tiny..!

WHAM!

"Gah!" He sat up, the force of the throw having knocked him to the ground. He rubbed his head, looking at the book on the ground, "What the hell, you aren't supposed to feel pain in here!"

"My Maka Chop is special. Call me that again, and it will hurt worse next time," Maka threatened, walking over to pick up the book.

"How the hell did you do that? Your throwing skill isn't nearly that high!"

"I have my ways, now let's go."

"Sheesh, no wonder you hid behind Summer. Not many people would be willing to put up with a short-tempered kid. No, wait, ACK!"

"You're lucky I'm desperate for someone to partner up with you asshole!"

And just when she thought he was a nice guy!


	2. First Boss

Part 2, coming up! Also, because someone asked for definitions, VR=Virtual Reality, MMO=Massive Multiplayer Online (Think World of Warcraft), RPG = Role-playing game (think Final Fantasy).

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Soul Eater or Sword Art Online

/

"So, transform."

Soul stared at Maka, "Right now?"

"Of course!" Maka placed a hand on her hip, "We need to figure this out before we go out into the field."

The two of them were in one of the DWMA practice rooms. The DWMA was a huge, castle like structure at the top of Death City. Various rooms for various purposes were spread all around the structure. There were training rooms for skills, tutorial areas, and areas where one could practice combat safely. From what Maka could deduce, the DWMA and Death City in general was meant to be a sort of 'hub' area.

Soul looked away nervously. "You do know how to transform, don't you?" Maka asked, "If you don't, there's a person giving the tutorial over there."

"I read the manual, I know how to do it," Soul replied, looked back at her, "I'm just nervous. I'm not sure how's it's going to feel."

"Remember you can't feel pain in here," Maka pointed out.

"Tell that to your Maka Chops."

"I told you, those are special. Now, are you going to do it? Or do you want to wait?"

Soul sighed, "I'll do it, don't worry." He closed his eyes. Then, he suddenly glowed with a blue light. Maka watched, impressed, as the light formed into the shape of a scythe. She reached out and grabbed the staff, the light fading to reveal the scythe in full.

Maka examined the scythe closely. It was a large weapon, and actually looked fairly intimidating. The long, curved blade was zigzagged with black and red. A single, large eye was at the end of the shaft. It felt surprisingly light in her hands, despite the size.

"How does it feel?" She asked, briefly wondering if he could even respond in this form.

"Really weird," Soul admitted, his voice echoing from the weapon, "But I think I can get used to it. It's weird that they don't let you pick what it looks like though. They base it on what your character looks like instead."

"I think that was to make it a little easier on the system," Maka theorized. She shifted the scythe carefully in her hands, "Okay, let's give this a try. Ready?"

"Yeah, let's do it."

Maka swung Soul's scythe one way experimentally. She almost immediately felt it shift the wrong way and nearly lost her footing. She grabbed a nearby wall and regained her footing.

"What was that?" She asked.

"Sorry," she heard Soul say, "Not used to this yet."

She sighed, "It's alright, we're both learning. Okay, let's try again."

Demon Weapons had some control over how their weapon forms moved. The idea was that they worked with their meisters to move in synch with each other, and could eventually preform maneuvers that one wouldn't be able to do with a normal weapon.

While they actually got the hang of a few basic maneuvers fairly quickly, Maka knew that wouldn't be enough. They would need several days to practice, she figured. They needed to be as ready as possible before they went out into the field. It could cost them both dearly otherwise.

As they practiced, other players slowly trickled in. At one point, the pair took a break to talk to another pair, who had just completed the starting quest and were also, coincidently, both beta testers.

"It's awful out there," one of them, a boy named Kuzo, said, "People are barely getting through. It's actually slightly better than it was in the beta test, but it's still pretty bad."

"This has nothing on the beta," the other, a girl, Sarah, put in, "In the beta test, not everyone tried to do the DWMA quest right away. There are actually several small side quests that you can do before the first main one, with some small benefits that really help early on in the game. The other testers are doing those first, waiting for the crowd to clear up."

Maka looked aghast, "I didn't know about those!"

"Not many did," the boy admitted, "They were designed so that the choke point would be less of a problem, giving people something to focus on when it got too crowded. While waiting for your chance, you would explore the city, encounter the quests, and do those to kill time."

"I'll admit that you were smart about this though," Sarah commented, looking over Maka, "Leaving and completing the main quest while everyone was still in the plaza."

Maka blushed slightly at the praise, "I knew the chokepoint would be bad, and that being in the crowd once the shock wore off wouldn't be pleasant so…"

The girl giggled, "Like I said, smart thinking."

"You were both beta testers, right?" Soul said, who was leaning against a nearby wall, "Do you have any tips?"

"A couple," Kuzo said, going through his inventory, "I took some notes during the beta and brought them with me to the main release for reference. I'll give you a copy. It includes information on those quests, which you can still do. I highly recommend doing them."

A trade window popped up near Maka. She tapped through it, and in a few moments, she had a copy of the notes. She would look over them later.

"I have a few practical tips as well," Sarah said, "Don't go out into the main streets. It's pandemonium right now. Take the back roads, or even better, take the Warp to another area. The Warp always leads to another town, which are always safe zones. It'll be worth the money to spend a couple of nights at one of the inns there."

Maka nodded, "Thank you."

"No problem," Kuzo said, "We need to get going, good luck, and be careful out there."

"Same to you too." With another exchange of nods, the two left.

"Well," Soul said, "What do you think?"

"I think we should take their advice," Maka said, checking to see how much money they had, "We can continue practicing in another town. We're spending the night in an inn somewhere else."

n/n/n/n/

A loud sound woke Maka from her sleep.

Groaning, she sat up in bed, and glanced out the nearby window. She and Soul had been in this town for a couple of days now. According to the betas they had befriended, things were still a bit chaotic in Death City. It looked like she and Soul would be in this town for a while longer yet.

It wasn't all bad though. The fields nearby had few players, mostly those who also decided that getting out of Death City after completing the DWMA quest was an excellent idea. That meant lots of monsters to go around, and all of them were racking up much needed experience points. Not to mention there were quests to do. The money from both quests and monsters were funding their stay at the inn.

Maka opened her inventory and changed into her clothes. 'Summer' was gone now. Maka had even spent some of her early earnings on changing her character's name. She had also picked up a new outfit. A plaid skirt, a cream vest, a long-sleeved white shirt, and black combat boots with large buckles that had actually dropped from a monster. Once she was changed, she exited the room. Soul was waiting outside.

"You heard it too, huh?" He yawned.

"Yeah," Maka confirmed, "Let's go and see what it is."

The two of them exited the inn. In the center of the town square, a boy was perched on top of a statue, and was shouting loudly.

Maka groaned, "Oh no…" She recognized that face anywhere. And the ego that was so big she could see it from there.

"What's wrong?" Soul glanced at her.

"I know who that is. Come on…" she led him through the crowd that had gathered, up to the base of the statue.

"LISTEN UP EVERYONE! I AM THE GREAT BLACK*STAR! HERE TO BECOME THE GOD OF THIS WORLD!"

"Yep," Maka said, shaking her head as she looked up, "That's Black*Star." She knew that he was going to try getting the game on launch day. She had doubted he had the patience to wait in line that long. She guessed he must have somehow summoned the willpower.

"How do you know this guy?" Soul asked.

"We're friends in the real world. He's a pain in the ass though." Understatement of the century. Sure, Black*Star was known for power-grinding and quickly becoming one of the most powerful players in the game. However, guilds were always reluctant to recruit him because of his massive ego. He usually ended up playing solo.

"Hey!" A player shouted, "You can't become a god in this game!"

The boy at the top of the statue scoffed, "Like that's ever stopped me!"

"Put your money where your mouth is moron!" Another shouted, "Defeat a kishin boss or something!"

"Maybe I will!" Black*Star called back, "You'll see! I'll be the first to defeat a kishin, and then you'll all bow down to me!"

Maka rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache come on. That Black*Star…He was going to get himself killed! Pain or not, he was still her friend, and she didn't feel like losing him because he was an idiot.

"I am the best player in the game! The strongest! I'm-!"

WHAM!

Black*Star was knocked off the statue and sent to the ground.

Soul stared while Maka 'hmphed,' returning from her throwing position.

"Thank you!" One player called.

"Wow, I didn't know a book could be used like that…"

"She must have some throwing skill already…"

"Come on Soul," Maka led her companion toward the boy now lying on the ground. He had spikey blue hair, and wore a black ninja outfit. He was groaning.

"Ow…"

Maka stopped in front of him. She was about to say something, when she heard a cry of, "Ah! Black*Star!" A tall girl with a long black ponytail ran up to them, "Ah, is he okay?"

"He'll be fine," Maka said, observing the girl carefully. A name popped up next to her, reading 'Tsubaki.' Where did she come from?

Black*Star sat up, rubbing his head, "I still wish I knew how you get it to actually hurt…" He looked up, "Oh, hey…Maka? Don't you usually go by Summer in these games? What happened?" He smiled mischievously, "Finally got tired of guys waiting on you hand and foot? YOW!"

Maka withdrew with her book, fuming, "I WAS Summer at the start of this whole thing. But after our avatars were changed, I couldn't be her anymore! I changed my name using the service earlier."

"I see, ow…" Black*Star rubbed his head. He looked up at Maka. Then he slowly shifted his gaze to Soul, "Who's the new guy? 'Soul Eater?' That's a weird name."

"No weirder then 'Black*Star,'" Soul said.

"Good point," Black*Star leapt to his feet. Maka heard the girl next to her breathe a sigh of relief. He stuck out his hand at Soul, "I'm Black*Star, the best player around!"

"Soul," Soul took the ninja's hand and shook it, "I'm Maka's weapon partner."

"Ah, so you're the one stuck with her!" Black*Star looked at Maka, ignoring her sharp glare, "Why didn't you tell me? We said we would try leveling up together!"

"I haven't really had much chance to try tracking you down to add you to my friend's list," Maka pointed out, "I was actually waiting for the launch event. Knowing you, you were planning on pulling some stunt there."

"I was," Black*Star admitted, "But that Asan guy stole my spotlight! Ah, that reminds me." He shoved past Maka and took a position next to the new girl, "This is Tsubaki. She's my weapon partner!"

"Oh," Understanding dawned on Maka, "I see." She leaned in close to Tsubaki, "You do know what you're getting yourself into with him, right?"

"Oh, I'm quite aware," Tsubaki smiled, "But it's been going well so far. I feel I'm going to enjoy having him as a partner. I do confess, I was afraid that he was a bit too…reckless at first. I'm glad to say he's proven me wrong."

Maka sighed, "Black*Star can be reckless, but there's no denying that he usually has the power to back it up."

"I'm not scared!" Back*Star declared, "'Death game?' So what? The last time I died in a MMO was when Prometheus launched!"

"Dude," Soul looked over the ninja, seeming slightly concerned, "That kind of attitude could get you killed."

"Not as long as I'm strong! And I'm going to be the strongest player in the game! I'm well on my way! Me and Tsubaki are already level twelve!"

Soul stared. Maka shook her head. Typical Black*Star. Knowing him, he had been grinding non-stop on the nearby monsters for the last few days. Tsubaki offered a sheepish smile, and Maka suddenly understood when she had meant by Black*Star proving her wrong.

"Well, since you're here, how about we party up?" Black*Star opened his menu, "Leveling goes a lot faster when you have someone with you."

A message popped up saying that Black*Star had invited her join the party. Maka tapped accept and watched as Black*Star and Tsubaki's HP bars popped up in the corner of her vision. A moment later, Soul's appeared as well.

"All right!" The ninja crowed, "Let's get going!"

n/n/n/n

One month.

It had already been one month since the Death Weapon Online launch.

A thousand people had already died. And yet no one had yet made any progress in the quest to make a Death Scythe.

Which was why someone had called a meeting to discuss the situation. The meeting was taking place in an outdoor amphitheater in one of Death City's parks. Several pairs had showed up, all of them for the purpose of discussing how to go about taking on kishin bosses safely.

Maka and Soul were seated on one of the benches. Up in front was a boy around Maka's age with a fancy suit, short black hair, and, somehow, three white stripes on one side of his hair. Flanking him, were two girls, whose similarities were stark enough that Maka assumed that they were probably related. One looked about seventeen, with long brown hair, and was staring nervously out into the crowd. The other had short blonde hair and seemed to be staring off into space. Both of them wore red sweaters, jeans, and a white cowboy hat.

Maka recognized the boy now standing in front of them, and she was willing to bet a lot of other people did too. Out of respect for privacy concerning reality, no one said anything about it. In this game, he was known as 'Death the Kid.'

Kid cleared his throat, "Good day everyone. Thank you for coming to this meeting. I am Death the Kid. The two girls behind me are my weapon partners, Liz and Patty."

"Hey!" One person in the crowd shouted, "I recognize them! They're the thieves that were running around earlier this month!" Liz flinched. A murmur went through the crowd. "Why are they here? They should be-!"

The man is suddenly silenced. So is the crowd. Right next to the man's head, a small metal disk had embedded itself in the wall.

"Wow," Soul whispers, "This guy could give you a run for your money in throwing skill."

Kid retreated from his throwing position, "I want to make clear. These girls are currently under my watch. What happens to them is of no concern of yours." Mutters of agreement. "Now, if we are done with that conversation, may we please get back to the matter at hand?" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a book.

"You are all familiar with the guidebook that the beta testers have so kindly written and have been giving out, correct?" Nods. "Recently, the betas have created another book. This one details all of the kishin bosses that they know of." A ripple of confusion went through the crowd. "They have been reluctant to release it. They do not wish to be responsible for anyone's deaths. Already, over a thousand people have died. We want to minimize further casualties. However, I have persuaded them to make a limited run of the book. We need to make at least one Death Scythe if we wish to return to reality." Kid's menu popped up in front of him and he started tapping through it, "Right now, I am sending you all a copy. Study it thoroughly. Over the next couple of days, I would like see attempts at kishin bosses."

Maka saw her trade window pop up. She tapped accept. The same action was repeated among the group.

"As you may or may not be aware, kishin bosses are special, in more ways than one. They can only be found by first accepting a quest at a DWMA mission board. They will only spawn in the assigned location if someone has the quest. Also, only the pair who has accepted the quest can fight the boss."

"You mean we can't party up for them?" A woman asked. Some disturbed chatter went through the crowd.

Kid shook his head, "No, sadly, you can't. They were designed to be pair challenges. Keep in mind, the Demon Weapon part of any team that defeats a kishin boss receives a power-up. Only one team can fight a kishin in order to keep the game balanced and prevent fighting."

He looked over the crowd, his expression serious, "We will try to defeat our first kishin boss. We will show everyone here that we can beat this game! When I call you all again in a few days, I hope that all of you will still be here, and that all of you will have taken that first step to freedom!"

n/n/n/n/

Maka had cross-referencing the guidebook and the available missions for an hour. While she and Soul had been standing in front of the mission board, several other pairs had come and gone, each of them discussing their particular chosen mission.

Although quests could be found in the field, the vast majority of them were accepted at DWMA mission boards. These were also found at DWMA branches in other towns.

Maka was in front of the main one in Death City. Soul was leaned against a wall nearby, clearly bored.

Nervous didn't even begin to describe Maka's mood right now. She was outright terrified. This wasn't a game anymore. The second her HP dropped to zero, she was dead. Literally. It was enough to make anyone want to remain in Death City. But Kid was right. If nobody made at least one Death Scythe, they would be here forever.

"Hey Maka!" Maka turned her head. As soon as she saw the familiar blue, spikey hair she turned her attention back to the book.

"Hi Black*Star," she said, without looking back at him, "You missed the meeting."

"I don't need to go to something like that," Black*Star boasted, "I don't need to be told how to fight! Although it could have been fun, now that I think about it."

Which basically meant, it would have been a good opportunity for him to do some of his crowing. She was suddenly glad that he wasn't there.

"So, what are you doing here?" Soul asked.

"To accept a mission, what else?" He reached over and snatched a paper of the board, "I'm not about to let anyone beat me! I'm going to go out, and defeat a kishin boss myself!"

Maka closed her book and properly looked at the ninja for the first time, "You might want to track down Kid. The betas gave him copies of a book that describes kishin bosses and their missions."

"I told you, I don't need to be told how to fight!" He started walking over to the mission NPC, "Just watch, I'm going to blow all of you away!"

"He's going to get himself killed," Soul muttered to himself, after Black*Star had left.

Maka shook her head, "I doubt it. You've seen it yourself, Black*Star has a lot of bite to back up his bark." She looked over the mission board, and sighed, "We should get going too. I could debate this in my head for hours and still not get anywhere."

"So, do you know which one you want to do?" Soul stood up from his position and walked over to her.

She nodded, "Yeah." She reached over and took a mission paper off the wall, "This one. It looks like something we can handle. I hope." She really, really hoped.

Soul nodded, "Then let's go."

n/n/n/n/

Maka gulped as she stepped into the forest. Soul's scythe form was in hand, and they were now making their way over to spot where the kishin boss was. She was aware that she was shaking slightly.

"Nervous?" Soul asked, his voice echoing from his weapon form.

"You have no idea," she replied.

"Well, try to relax. You've memorized everything there is to know about this boss. We'll be fine."

"I hope so," she glanced down at Soul, "Are you nervous at all?"

"A bit," he admitted, "I mean, technically we weapons don't have much to worry about. We can't take damage in our weapon forms. We're useless without someone to wield us however."

"I know," she stepped over a branch carefully, only to chide herself for doing it. It wasn't like the enemies here were designed to respond to sound like that.

A growl suddenly caught her ears. She froze. Slowly, she turned her head.

Glowing eyes were peeking out of the bushes. The body it belonged to shifted and suddenly she could see that it didn't belong to any monsters in the forest that she knew of.

She stumbled backward quickly, as the figure rose to full height. She tripped over a log behind her and fell onto her butt. She stared up at the large, imposing humanoid figure that now loomed above her.

"So," a male voice cackled, "The DWMA finally sent one of their dogs after me!" He was a huge, bulky figure, wearing a large black coat. Glancing up at the name hovering over him, she it read, 'Ander, the Hangman.'

Wait, wasn't that the name of a famous serial killer from a few centuries ago? Maka quickly cast her memory to the missions, not just hers, but others as well. She had never noticed it before, but many of the names were familiar, likely those of other famous killers from history.

Great, she thought to herself, the game was really trying to drive home the horror undertone. But why go after serial killers? The first thing she was going to do when she got back, if she survived, was read up on as much in-game lore as she could get her hands on.

The man charged forward. "Maka!" Soul's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. She quickly rolled out of the way, and the boss's bulk thundered by.

Ander…Ander…according to the book, he mostly used hand-to-hand combat skills. He was slow, but his blows were powerful. When his HP got in the red, he brought out a shortsword.

Okay, she could do this.

She looked stood up. She made the mistake of looking up.

Nooses. Hanging from all of the trees. Although she knew they were fake in-game terms, bodies hung from many them.

Had those always been there? She had been in this forest many time for training, how had she not noticed them before? Oh, crap. Looking around, she didn't recognize this part of the field. In her rush to get to the spawn point, she hadn't realized that she was going into a completely new area.

She was suddenly struck by the thought of her own body, hanging from one of those trees, her HP dwindling into nothing until she disappeared…No one to find her, no one to mourn…

"Maka! Snap out of it!" She came to attention at Soul's voice just in time to dodge another blow. She retreated. She wondered how the others were doing on their own bosses. How many would die? Would she be one of them?

"Whatever you're thinking, stop it!" Soul shouted, "Focus! We need to beat this guy!"

Maka heard Soul, heard Ander coming, but this time, she didn't have the chance to dodge.

"MAKA!" She heard Soul's voice from the end of a tunnel. She watched her HP bar in the corner of her vision, as it fell a bit, then stopped.

She didn't want to die…

She wanted to live…

She wanted to see reality again, to see her mother again, wanted to be able to graduate, go to college…

She clenched the scythe in her hands. She heard Ander charge again, but this time, she was ready. She dodged, and this time, she swung the scythe around to blow Ander a short distance. She looked over him. Tightening her grip, she ran forward, bringing the scythe down.

Again and again. She dodged Ander's blows, while swinging the scythe around. His HP meter slowly fell, until it finally went into the red.

Ander reached into his coat and brought out the short sword. Maka was ready. As he came forward, intending to skewer her with it, she bought up Soul's staff. The sword clanged against it.

She intended to shove the kishin off, kick him in the stomach or something, but the pressure of his sword on her scythe was so great that it was actually pressing her feet into the ground. Her strength stat wasn't nearly enough to simply shove him off, she realized with a sinking feeling. That was another thing to work on if she got out of this.

She didn't see the sucker punch coming.

She was blown back and landed on the ground, wincing. Sure, it didn't technically hurt, but the other sensations were still present. She started to get up, wincing again at the sight of her HP meter. She was about at the halfway mark and who knew how much damage that sword did…

She heard the boss coming right for her. She still wasn't recovered, so she braced herself. Oh no, oh no, there was no time to react in the next few seconds he would combine his sword and punches to quickly knock away what remained of her hitpoints…

A loud clang caused her to look up. Soul was standing there. The only part of him transformed now was his arm, which was a scythe blade. He had used that to parry the boss' sword.

"Maka!" He yelled, "When he attacks again, grab me and go in for the kill!"

Maka stared. She gasped when she saw the kishin's fist come around like last time and blow Soul away. She watched in horror, as a large chunk of her companion's HP bar vanished. As a Demon Weapon, he had significantly lower stats then a meister character would. He started to glow again, and suddenly she understood.

She reached for him, just as the staff of his weapon form materialized. Grabbing it, she swung it around in time to catch Ander coming for them again. This time, the scythe struck him cleanly. She watched, in morbid fascination, as it sliced across him. He stood there for a moment, before dissolving into sparks like a normal monster.

Soul transformed back into his human form. Maka immediately ran up to him, "Are you okay? What were you thinking? You could have gotten killed!"

"If I hadn't done it, you would have been a goner," he pointed out, "I can get out of danger quickly because my weapon form is invincible, you can't. If I had to choose between losing most of my HP or seeing you lose the last of yours, I'd rather take the blow."

Tears came to her eyes. "You're a moron! You know that? A complete idiot!"

He just smiled that shark-toothed smile. She had to restrain from hitting him with a book.

A popup appeared in front of her She wiped away her tears with her sleeve to look at it. It read, _'Quest Clear! Congratulations!'_ It them listed gold, experience, and finally, her share of the drops. One item caught her eye. Curious, she went into her inventory and picked to equip it.

A flowing black longcoat. She admired herself in it. This was nice. She liked it.

"That looks good on you," she looked over at Soul, who was also examining his own spoils, but had spared a look for her, "I mean, it makes you look a lot more badass, if you know what I mean…"

She smiled, "Thank you…" She opened up her inventory again. She picked a couple of health potions and materialized them. She held one out to Soul, "Here."

He returned her smile, "Thanks." They both drank the potions. Maka watched with relief as both of their HP bars completely refilled. The potions then vanished.

"Hey Maka," Soul started, "You know what this thing is? It says, 'Kishin Soul.'"

"Let me see," she leaned over and examined the item description that he had summoned in front of him. "'Food item, unable to be cooked. Demon Weapons only.' Hm…"

He materialized the item. It was a large, squishy red orb pulsing with energy that also wisped around it. He glanced at Maka. She shrugged,

"Might as well see what happens."

Soul nodded in agreement. Without much preamble, he placed soul in his mouth. She watched as he chewed for a few minutes, than swallowed. He seemed strangely satisfied after it went down his throat.

"That was actually pretty good," He commented. A light enveloped him. The two of them looked on in confusion, as it was bright for a moment, then faded. A window popped up, with 'Congratulations!' followed by a list of what Maka released were stat increases.

"Ah!" She quickly pulled out the guidebook and flipped to the page she wanted, "It said that Demon Weapons power up when kishin bosses are defeated, but they never said how! Huh, according to this, the power-up was automatic in the beta. Guess they must have added the soul part."

"Sheesh, how much more nerdy can you get? Ack!" He cowered upon seeing her book raised, "Take a joke! So, um, what do we do now?"

She took a deep breath, putting away her guidebook. "First, we need a break. We'll report into Kid when he calls for the second meeting later this week."

n/n/n/n/

Maka glanced around the amphitheater. Was it just her, or were there more people here then last time?

Everyone was chatting, relating the exploits of the past few days.

"We chickened out. We don't want to die."

"It was easier than I thought! Then again, we're overleveled…"

"Excuse me?" Maka turned her head. A girl was standing near her, look down sadly, "Were you friends with Sarah and Kuzo?"

"The betas?" Maka nodded, "Yeah, why?" Then she did a double take, "Wait, what do you mean, 'were…?'" A chill went through her even as she said it. The girl looked away. Despite something within her screaming not to, she opened her friend list.

Neither Sarah or Kuzo were on there anymore.

"They said that they wanted to try one of the missions too…" The girl choked, "I heard you were a friend, but I wasn't sure if you knew…I'm sorry…"

Maka barely heard her. She simply stared at the spot where her beta friends had been.

"Are you okay?" Soul asked.

Maka dismissed her menu, unable to look at it, "I'll be fine…" Her voice was shaky.

"Good day everyone!" She turned to attention to the front of the theater, grateful for the distraction. Kid was standing up there, flanked by the sisters as usual, "I see that we have more people than last time. I also note that some faces are missing." He bowed his head, "I am very well aware that…we may have lost some in this attempt…"

A respectful silence went over the crowd. After a minute, Kid lifted his head again, "However, we have proven to ourselves today that this is possible! With a soul under our belt, new areas have opened up for us, and new missions will be available. Let us keep going until we finally reach our goal!"

A cheer went through the crowd.

"GOOD MORNING PEONS! THE GREAT GOD, BLACK*STAR IS HERE!"

Maka groaned, "Oh no…" That moron really didn't know how to show proper respect. In the back of her mind however, she breathed a sigh of relief that her friend was still alive.

"Hey, isn't that the idiot always showing off?" One person asked.

"This dude's been popping up everywhere, it's annoying," another one commented.

Kid looked unamused at the interruption, "Is there a reason you have to be so loud?"

"I have to be loud!" Black*Star called, as he made his way down the center aisle, Tsubaki trailing behind him and seeming very embarrassed, "I'm the best player here, and I want everyone to know it!"

"If you're such a great player," one person asked as Black*Star reached the stage, leaping onto it while Tsubaki took a seat nearby, "How many souls do you have?"

Black*Star stuck out his chest, "While you peons were out lazing around, I got three souls!"

A mutter went through the crowd. "Prove it!" One person called. The ninja smirked and brought up his menu. There, next to the stats of his partner, Tsubaki, was a clear three next to what Maka now realized was the soul count.

Now the crowd's whispers became ones of amazement. Even Kid seemed stunned.

"Your friend is something else," Soul said to Maka, his voice just as amazed as everyone else.

"I honestly shouldn't be as surprised as I am right now…" Maka said, staring at the number.

Black*Star snickered, "You guys can try to keep up! Or not! I'm going to be the first to make a Death Scythe! And then you'll all be eternally grateful to me!"

"We'll see if you're the first!" One person called. Similar sentiments went through the theater.

"Aw man, he's making the rest of us look bad…"

"I'm not about to let a loudmouth like him show us up!"

"Neither am I!"

Kid smiled, "It seems we've all been inspired by this one's efforts. Now, let's see if we can keep it up!"

After one last cheer and a standing ovation, everyone started shuffling out of the amphitheater. Maka pushed her way through the crowd to meet up with Black*Star up front. The ninja was chatting with Kid.

"Just so you know, I'm not about to let you show me up!" Black*Star boasted.

"I'm aware," Kid replied crisply, seemingly unamused with the ninja again.

"I mean, just because your dad is-YOW!"

Maka stepped over Black*Star who was now twitching on the ground with a book embedded in his skull. She spared a glance down at him.

"It's rude to talk about the real world! Keep that in mind!" She then looked up at Kid, "Sorry about him."

"Friend of yours?" Kid looked at Black*Star as Tsubaki ran up to check on him.

"Unfortunately," Maka replied. She held out a hand, "I'm Maka, it's nice to meet you Death the Kid."

Kid stepped down from the stage and took her hand, "It is nice to meet you as well."

Maka looked past him at the approaching sisters, "Interesting picking two weapons, does that mean…?"

"That I have to do twice as much?" Kid shook his head, "No, the kishin boss rewards, are thankfully, done by teams instead of by individual. In other words, when a boss is defeated a soul is given to every weapon in a team."

"I see," Maka replied. She then cocked her head, "Um, I don't mean to be rude, but I've always wondered this. Why are there stripes on only-?"

"Don't say it!" Liz suddenly hisses, looking at Maka, not with anger, but with something resembling panic, "Don't bring attention to it!"

"Oh, sorry…"

Soul finally comes up as Black*Star recovers. Kid speaks again, "This might sound sudden, but what do you say to partying up for a while? I've seen you around, doing minor quests and such. You seem like you know what you're doing."

Maka blushed, "I've played a lot of VRMMOs. You could call me a veteran."

"I could use someone with that kind of experience," he summoned his menu and a party invite appeared, "I don't get much chance to actually play these games myself." He seemed distant for a moment before recovering, "In any case, when training, it's best to have someone else with you."

Maka nodded, "I agree."

Black*Star leapt to his feet, "Hey, I want to be part of this too! I'm not about to let anyone surpass me!"

Kid shot Maka a look. She responded with a helpless shrug. A few moments later, and Black*Star was now part of the party as well.

"Oh, come on, you peons are only level fifteen?"

Maka twitched, "Excuse me for being inefficient."

Black*Star shook his head, "I'm already level twenty-one you know?" They choked, "Follow me! I'll show you all the best training spots!" He started to walk off.

Behind her, she heard Liz say to Tsubaki, "He seems like a handful."

"Oh, he is," she said cheerfully, "But he's actually really nice, and I enjoy being on a team with him."

Maka just sighed and started to follow Black*Star, Soul close behind her. She really hoped this wasn't going to be a mistake.


	3. Founding

Finally updated! I don't think this is the best quality though. It's shorter too. In any case, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Soul Eater

/

'_Hiro (aka Arthur) did it again.'_

Maka stopped eating her lunch to look at the message that had popped up in front of her. It was from an old guildmate from another game. She had decided to take her lunch in the DWMA dining hall today. It was better than watching Soul and Black*Star try to see who could be the biggest idiot.

Setting her sandwich down, she summoned a keyboard and typed out a reply, '_What do you mean?_

She hit send. A second later, the reply came, _'He got the strongest weapon again.'_

She shook her head. She typed, _'There IS no strongest weapon in this game.'_

'_That's what I thought too.' _ Came the reply a second later. Before Maka could type out a rebuttal, a second message appeared, _'I attached the beta notes. They knew about this, but they didn't want to tell us.' _ She frowned. Why? _'For a very good reason too. Brace yourself, I think he's coming your way.'_ What reason would the betas have to conceal, as her friend said, the most powerful weapon in the game? To have it for themselves? There were betas like that, but pretty much all of the information from the beta was in the public domain now. That meant this particular piece was withheld with universal agreement. That was unheard of among the betas.

'Coming your way.' That probably meant that Hiro was coming to the guild. She thought it over as she finished her lunch. As much of a loser as Hiro could be, someone with the so-called 'strongest weapon' could be helpful, especially this early in the game.

After she finished her lunch, she opened the attachment. It was different from other beta notes.

'_We weren't originally going to tell anyone about this. It's not worth the trouble, and it would have simply caused a lot of people grief. However, someone did what we assumed was impossible. We applaud and admire this player for his stunt, but have mixed feelings about it otherwise. In any case, we are now forced to divulge this information._

'_Thanks to the way the game works, there is no such thing as a 'most powerful weapon.' Stat enhancements instead come from other equipment. There is however, one exception to this rule._

'_The Holy Sword Excalibur. He is, unquestionably, the most powerful weapon in the game. He is easy to use, with amazing attacks, and if the user is of a high enough level, he can even take out powerful field bosses in one hit._

'_He does have downsides however. For one, he is unable to absorb souls, and is unable to be created into a Death Scythe. He makes up for this with his sheer power, and that would be invaluable to anyone looking to down a field or dungeon boss for good gear. That is not his primary downside, however. _

'_He is, without a doubt, the most-'_

The note cut off there, strangely enough. Maka blinked. That was odd. Why didn't the note finish? She sent a message to her friend about it.

'_Nobody knows,' _Was the reply, _'The running theory is that they wanted people to see for themselves.'_

n/n/n/n/

On her way to the guild hall, Maka bumped into Kilk. He was as usual, accompanied by Fire and Thunder, a pair of young fraternal twins, neither of whom could be any older than ten. It saddened Maka to think that a number of young children had also gotten trapped in the game.

"Oh, hi Kilk," Maka said, smiling, "How did it go?"

Kilk shot her a thumbs up, "I'm in! I'm looking forward to working with you guys!"

She smiled, "I'm glad to hear that! You were one of the first to create a team, and you were pretty good already when I saw you." She focused on Kilk for a moment. His stat window popped up next to his name. Maka had found that she could do that a few days ago. It was a handy thing to know. Kilk was at a good level, and his soul count had just hit fourteen.

He smiled at her, "Thanks for the compliment! I'm looking forward to working with you guys!" Fire and Thunder nodded in agreement. Maka didn't think she had ever seen those two speak a word. Kilk continued, "Well, I have some stuff I need to do, see you later!"

After parting with Kilk, Maka finally reached the guild hall.

The Spartoi.

It had been Kid's idea. A way to pool resources to make it easier on all of them. The guild was for those serious about creating a Death Scythe. They were somewhat picky about who to accept. They didn't need just those who were strong; they also needed teams who showed potential. It had been founded only recently, but there was a flood of interest already.

Maka was the second-in-command. Kid himself was naturally the guild master, with his weapon partners helping where they could. Tsubaki had also been given a position of authority, much to Black*Star's initial offence. He got over it, when Maka pointed out that any position would likely involve a fair amount of desk work. Still, it was a stiff reminder of why Black*Star usual ended up solo.

As Maka headed for Kid's quarters, she, to her surprise, spotted Soul down a hall out of the corner of her eye.

"Soul?" She approached him. He looked over at the sound of his name and smiled slightly upon seeing her.

"Oh, hey Maka."

"I thought you were with Black*Star?" She stopped in front of him, feeling confused.

Soul shrugged, "He said he wanted to do some skill grinding. I didn't feel like sticking around for something like that, so I decided to see what was going on around here." He looked around, "I saw Tsubaki leading around a new pair just a minute ago, we're getting a lot of recruits, aren't we?

"People want to get out of here," Maka pointed out, as she started walking in the direction of Kid's office, Soul right next to her, "And we are the first guild to take making Death Scythes seriously."

"I would think the idea that we're going to go up against dungeon bosses would scare people away," he looked up at the ceiling, "I mean, I know we have to defeat the bosses for the gear if we want to keep killing kishin, but the dungeons bosses are on another level from field bosses."

"We'll be fine," Maka assured him, pulling up her menu, "In the meantime, listen to this. The betas have been talking about something called a 'trigger.' Apparently, after a certain number of souls are collected, you can accept a special mission that triggers a world event. These events supposedly have the effect of changing status quo in the world, leading to more events and new quests for everyone."

"That's interesting," Soul said, leaning over to glimpse at the notes she had pulled up, "But why would you want to do that? The world's hard enough."

Maka looked over the notes, "The betas never got that far, but someone doing a 'trigger' unlocks higher level kishin missions, new areas, and new bosses. In other words, it's a key part to advancing in the game."

"So does that mean that we can expect to see one of these 'triggers' at some point?"

"Pretty much," she dismissed her menu, "We'll want to be prepared when we do."

She finally reached the door of Kid's office. Soul told her that he was going to hang around outside for her as she knocked.

"Come in," came the voice was behind the door. Maka stepped in. Kid's office was, as usual, pristinely organized. He was currently shifting through some messages in his menu. He looked up and brightened upon seeing Maka, "Ah, Maka, I thought you were going to check the mission board again today."

"I was," she said, "But well…you might want to see this." She opened her menu and sent Kid a copy of the notes. She watched as he opened it, looking over the information. "A friend of mine told me that Hiro found Excalibur and is 'headed our way.' I think he's going to apply to the guild."

Kid dismissed his menu, and looked thoughtful, "Death Scythe or not, someone with something that powerful would be invaluable when we start dungeon bosses. He will be able to help us take them down, and this will make the guild stronger as a whole. Still," he brought up the notes again, "The sudden cut-off does worry me a little."

Maka shrugged, "Guess we'll find out."

"I suppose we will," Kid sighed, "We'll certainly welcome him," he rubbed the center of his forehead, "I just wish I could shake this bad premonition…"

n/n/n/n/

"Finally! Here's one!"

Maka reached out to take the paper. She turned to Soul, "This will be number twenty-one! We'll be the first to get past twenty. Let's keep it up!"

He was looking at her strangely. Without thinking about it too much, she went to the mission NPC and accepted the quest. When she got back to Soul, he asked,

"So where is this mission anyway?"

"Palmana. I'm looking forward to it," Maka looked away dreamily, "It unlocked right after we hit twenty. It's a tropical area, with sun, a beautiful beach, and a resort town. I know that a good number of people in Death City are migrating there."

"Good," Soul smiled, "So, what do you say we take a break?"

Maka blinked at him, "Huh?"

Soul grabbed her arm, "We've been working non-stop for a while. I think both of us are due for a break. Let's spend a day or two in Palmana before we complete this quest."

She snatched her arm away, "We can't! We're not even a quarter of the way to the needed soul count! We need to keep going!"

"Ever heard of 'sharpening the saw' tiny tits? OW!"

She withdrew her book, irritated, "We can't relax. Not until we reach reality."

"Not even if I called it a date?"

She froze. A cold wind seemed to blow from somewhere, chilling her. She glared at Soul, "That's not funny."

He seemed about to retort, when he hesitated. He looked away for a moment. When he looked back, he was smiling, "Alright, sorry. No hard feelings?"

Maka relaxed. He was just joking. Of course. It wasn't like someone like him would really date someone like her. Although he had found her worthy as a partner. Every day that he stuck around, she found herself trusting him more and more. Their fights against kishin only further drove it home.

Still, he had a point.

"Alright, we'll spend one day in Palmana," she said, "You're probably right that we could use a relaxing day in the sun."

n/n/n/n/

The weather in Palmana was nice today. As a result, the streets were thick with people. Maka spotted several player-run stores, many of which seemed to be getting brisk business.

"Give this place some time and it could become as crowded as Death City," Soul commented, looking around, "Guess a lot of people like the tropical setting." He smirked at her, "What do you want to eat? I'm paying."

"Technically we share our money," Maka pointed out, "And why would you want to buy me anything anyway?"

He took her arm, "It's the thought that counts, right? Come on, am I not allowed to do something nice for you?"

She looked at him, feeling skeptical. Then sighed, "Alright, fine. But it better be someplace good!"

"It will be I promise," He looked around, "There's a restaurant around here that Havar told me about, let's see if we can find it."

n/n/n/n/

The restaurant turned out to be a café run by some players. Maka and Soul sat outside, ordering drinks and some sandwiches. Maka took one bite of her sandwich and flinched, staring at it.

"This is actually really good!"

"It should be," A waitress nearby said, "All of our chefs spent the first few weeks of this whole ordeal grinding their cooking skill as a form of stress relief. We're expecting at least one of them to max it soon."

"That explains it," Maka continued to eat her food. While she did, she struck up conversation, "Speaking of cooking, we need to work on our cooking skill. The food you can buy is okay, but it's better if you can cook it yourself."

"I thought our cooking skill was fine," Soul remarked.

I thought so too, until you burned dinner the other day. We need to start grinding it again."

Soul sighed, "Whatever. Anyway, today's a bit special."

She paused, "Special how?"

"It's been a few months since we partnered up," he said, taking a sip of his drink, "I thought we'd appreciate the fact that you haven't ditched me yet."

She looked down, "You're one to talk about something like that. Why haven't you left yet?"

"Why would I?"

"Don't play dumb!" She hissed, giving him a threatening glare, "I've seen all those girls come up to you. Why haven't you taken up any of them on their offers yet?" And who knew how many messages he got on top of those who she saw approach him? Many of the girls were fairly well-developed too. There was no reason for Soul to stick around with someone like her. No reason for him to keep being partners with someone who regularly snapped at him, hit him with books, and wasn't even much to look at…Her face fell and she looked down again.

"What the heck gave you the idea that I was leaving? At all?" Soul leaned in close as she met his eyes, "Believe it or not, I actually like being your partner."

"Why would you?" She traced the edge of her cup, "I'm always hitting you or yelling at you…"

"But you're also one of the nicest people I know," He said, "You're a fantastic player, with a lot of heart and courage. Why wouldn't I want someone like you as my partner?" She searched his face, looking for any sign of insincerity, but finding none. "Back when we teamed up, you agreed that every day that I stuck around you would trust me a little more not to leave. It's been a while now, and I still haven't left, and I don't intend to."

She was aware of her heart thudding in her chest. He was right. He could leave her at any moment, yet he chose not to…"You…seriously want to stick around someone like me?"

He chuckled, "Of course. I'm in this with you for the long haul Maka, like it or not."

She smiled. Suddenly feeling shy, she quickly looked down at her food and began eating again. Still, something in her felt like it had just given way. Like a door had been opened just a crack, letting sunlight in.

n/n/n/n/

Maka came out of the café feeling lighter then she had in a while. Soul suggested that they check out the beach, spend the night at the inn, then go after the kishin tomorrow. She had agreed and they were going to do just that.

"Maka, is that you?"

They had just exited the café when a familiar voice froze Maka in her tracks. She didn't dare turn around.

"It is you Maka!" She heard steps approaching her from behind. She still refused to acknowledge the person behind her.

"Who are you?" She thanked Soul silently as she felt him stand behind her and the unwelcome guest.

"I should be asking you the same thing," the tone of the new arrival became slightly threatening, "What's a punk like you doing around my daughter?" She felt a stir of anger rise.

"Your wha…?"

"You heard me! I am Maka's fa-!"

The newcomer was interrupted by a book to the face.

"You have NO right to call yourself that!" She yelled, looking at the person for the first time. An older man, familiar red hair…There was no doubting who that was.

Her father sat up, "Ow, impressive how you get that to actually hurt…" He looked up at Maka, "I'm so glad to see that you're okay my precious Maka! When this whole thing started, I feared the worse for you! I'm so glad that wasn't true!"

"What are you doing here anyway?" Maka demanded. Her father wasn't a VRMMO player. Why would he be here?

"Ah," her father looked away, "Well, you see…"

"Causing trouble Spirit?" A new voice joined the conversation. Coming out of a nearby shop was a tall, pale man with gray hair and wearing a lab coat. He looked down at Spirit, then looked at the younger pair. Maka focused, and a name popped up next to the stranger. 'Dr. Franken Stein.' "Friends of yours?"

She shivered. She couldn't explain it but something about this person creeped her out. "No, we're not," Maka grabbed Soul's arm, ignoring his sound of protest, "We were just leaving." She started to drag herself and her companion away.

"Maka, wait!" Spirit leapt to his feet, "Where are you going? What are you doing with that boy? If he's hurting you…!"

"He's my PARTNER for your information!" She looked over her shoulder, "And you have NO right to tell me anything here! Understand? Let's go Soul!"

She pulled them both away, leaving behind a stoic Stein and a sobbing Spirit crying for his daughter.

n/n/n/n/

Soul, to her relief, didn't pry.

The two of them were at a lookout, watching the sunset. She didn't say anything for a while, instead admiring the view.

Finally, she said, "Sorry you had to see that."

Soul shook his head, "No, it's alright," he gave her a glance, "I can only imagine how I'd react if I saw my parents in here."

"He's not my father," Maka said, looking down at the waves crashing against the shore, "Not anymore."

"I see," Soul cast his gaze out. After a few more seconds, she said,

"Aren't you going to ask?"

He shook his head, "No, it sounds really personal. And it's rude to talk about reality."

She smiled slightly, "Thank you." Another short silence, before she said, "My parents divorced a while back. My father was constantly cheating with other women, and my mother finally got sick of it. I created Summer around that time. I…guess I was trying to prove a point with her."

"I see," Soul said softly, "Your dad warped your view of guys, and you created Summer to further prove that view. No offense, but that's kind of fucked up. Why would you put yourself through that?"

She closed her eyes, "A large part of me wanted to prove to myself that men were nothing more than perverted jerks. That they weren't to be trusted. And…I proved that…But, a part of me also wanted to see that it wasn't true. That there had to be some cases were it wasn't true. It never happened. At least, not before…" she risked a glance at Soul. His expression was soft.

"I was the first one to really look past 'Summer' huh?" She nodded in confirmation, "All this time, I can't believe that no one noticed you were hurting like that."

She laughed bitterly, "Like I said, men are horrible." But…she glanced at Soul. He was different. Somehow, someway, he was different.

After a few minutes, Maka received an alert that she had just received a new message. Tapping her menu, she opening the message.

'_I understand my partner didn't leave the best impression on you, but I wish to talk. He won't be present, don't worry.'_

It was from Dr. Franken Stein, the player that had been with her father earlier. It included map data for a meeting spot. She showed the message to Soul.

"You going to go meet with him?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

"I might as well," she tapped to close her menu, "If only to see what he wants."

"Alright, if you're sure."

The two of them left the lookout and went towards the meeting spot. It was in town, so it likely wasn't some subtle attempt at a PK, a player killing by another player. Though the chances were slim that her father would hang around someone like that, she still couldn't shake the creepy feeling she got around Stein.

He was waiting for them at the spot, a secluded alleyway. He was leaning against the wall, but stood up upon seeing them.

"Good evening," he greeted, nodding. His eyes flitted over them, and Maka had to suppress a shiver.

"What do you want?" Maka asked.

Stein cleared his throat, "I'm not sure what history you have with my partner, but I'm here to inquire about something. You're the vice commander for the newly formed Spartoi, aren't you?"

She shifted, feeling nervous, "Yeah, what about it?"

"We are interested in joining your guild."

She twitched. Her father? In a guild with her? "Not a chance in hell."

"Slow down there Maka," Soul said, stepping past her to face Stein, "Why are you interested in the Spartoi?"

Stein smirked, "Why else? It will be a nice challenge. We are also trying to create a Death Scythe. I'm the meister half of the partnership, Spirit's the Demon Weapon." Really? She focused on Stein's name, and after a moment, his stats appeared. Level twenty-six, with a soul count of seventeen. And good stats all around. "I will send you our info, you will see that we are more than qualified." He brought up his menu. A moment later, Maka saw the indicator of a message. She opened it to find the exact information that she had just seen on her own.

"You aren't very far behind us," Maka remarked, impressed despite herself, "And we're the soul count leader."

"We like to believe that we work hard," Stein said, "I understand that you are reluctant because of my partner, but from a purely objective perspective, are we not ideal for your guild?"

She shook her head, "You might be but…I can't imagine working with my father. Not even for something like this. I'm sorry."

Stein opened his mouth to speak, but Soul stopped him, "Maka, you're being unfair right now," he opened his menu, turning to Stein, "I'll do you a favor. I'll send your info to the guild master and he'll be able to decide. I'll make sure that my partner here doesn't veto your application."

Maka looked away. There was no doubt that Stein and her father would be accepted. They were simply too good. The thought that she was going to be seeing a lot more of her father now disgusted her. Why was he even playing Death Weapon Online anyway?

"Ah, Stein, there you are." Speak of the devil. Spirit was now coming up to them. He froze upon seeing Maka. "Maka…"

"This conversation is over," she said to Stein curtly, "I wish you luck with Kid, I don't doubt that your application will be accepted." She started to walk away. Soul was right behind her.

"Maka," she stopped on hearing her father's voice, "Look, I know you're mad at me right now, but can I ask a quick question? You play a lot of these games, right? Do you know a girl named Summer? I've been looking for her," his voice became dreamy, "I hear she's absolutely divine."

Something inside her snapped. Such red-hot fury welled up inside that she was almost surprised with herself. Everything seemed to be a shade of red. Suddenly, she had a vision of her mother, angrily yelling at Spirit after discovering his cheating yet again…

"Soul, transform." Her voice was strangely calm.

Soul reached for her, and she noted that he was shaking a little, "Maka, think about this for a moment-"

"We're in a safe zone!" She hissed, "Transform now!"

He complied, blue light taking the form of a scythe. She grabbed the staff forcefully and whirled around. Before Spirit could say anything, she slammed him with the blade of the weapon, sending him into a nearby wall. You didn't take damage in a safe zone, but there was still a knockback effect.

If anyone was saying anything, she didn't hear them. Her only focus was the man in front of her. She wasn't aware of just how deeply she could hate until now.

Spirit, wincing, looked at her, "Maka, why-?"

"I hate you!" She yelled, "I hate you Papa!" She felt moisture on her face. When did she start crying? "Summer? That 'divine' girl you were talking about? She was me!" A look of shock passed over Spirit's features. Even Stein seemed surprised. "I created her to be the type of girl men seem to be willing to throw away everything for. To prove they were the unfaithful bastards that I believed they were!" Her voice took on a hysterical tone, "Thank you, for proving me right!"

Her legs suddenly felt weak. She collapsed onto her knees, her vision blurring. Soul clattered next to her. She brought her hands up to her face and began sobbing. She cried and cried. She eventually became aware of Soul's arms around her. She let him help her stand up.

What happened next was a blur. She didn't know how, but Soul somehow led her away from the scene. The next thing she knew, she was in a bed in the inn. Soul was by her bedside, rubbing a hand up and down her arm in an attempt to soothe her. At some point, her cries subsided and she was mercifully taken by dreamless sleep.

n/n/n/n/

Maka bit her lip, trying not to looking at the pair that was currently on the other side of the room. Instead, she was trying to focus on Kid in front of the gathered players. Soul seemed to notice her distress, and gave her arm a reassuring squeeze. She smiled at him briefly before refocusing on Kid.

It had been a few days since the encounter in Palmana. Stein and Spirit had, naturally, been accepted into the guild. Maka refused to associate with Spirit. She avoided him at all costs. She was aware that it was reflecting badly on her as the vice commander of the guild, but she couldn't help it.

Kid had called this meeting to make an important announcement. She knew exactly what it would be about.

"Thank you all for coming," he said, "We have grown very quickly since our founding, and I have to say, I didn't expect this much of a positive reaction to our guild and its goals. With time and effort, I'm certain that we will earn our passage out of this game!

"Now, before I go on to the main point, I would like to make a few minor announcements. First of all, field boss duty is now officially a punishment for transgressions."

There were groans all around. Maka cringed. Field boss duty now implied working with Hiro, who had been given the task of farming field bosses for money and equipment. And that meant dealing with Excalibur.

The betas had been really cruel in withholding the full information on Excalibur. She knew for a fact that a good number of them had a nice laugh at their expense.

"On that note, I wish to announce our first dungeon excursion." An indicator popped up for everyone. Maka tapped hers. A set of notes and map data appeared. "The White Palace, located deep within the field outside Florin. I'm certain that many of you have seen it while training.

"We will first send in teams to scout the area. The dungeon has changed since the beta, so the data from there is sadly unreliable. The goal will be to get a layout of the area and, ultimately, find the boss room. These teams will have to be strong naturally. The dungeons are a different level from the field.

"Applications for the teams will be opened after this meeting. Those on these teams will have first priority on any drops, above even superiors. A chance to get ahead, if you will. I should also note, Hiro will be assisting in the recon. But I will emphasize, he is doing so alone. Also, he will be fully present during the eventual boss battle."

"Where is Hiro anyway?" Soul whispered in Maka's ear.

"Out downing the Fairy Woods field boss I think," she replied, "I don't think Kid wanted him at the meeting."

"I don't blame him."

"That is all," Kid finished, "Dismissed!"

Maka and Soul exited the hall with everyone else. As she and Soul began discussing their next mission, a voice drew her ears.

"Oh, did I miss something important?" She turned her head. Blonde hair, blues eyes, casual clothing…

"Hi Hiro," Maka said. She glanced at the strangely empty space in front of him, "Um, where's Excalibur…?"

"Greetings everyone!" A cheerful voice came from the corner of the room. This was followed by voices of panic and hurried attempts to get out of the vincity, "I see that we missed something of grave importance! Hiro!" Out of the people who parted to give what was coming through a wide berth. A small, strange white creature with a top hat, long nose, and a cane approached them, "Did you not know of this?"

"Kid never told me," Hiro said, placing a hand on his chin, "I wonder why…"

"The fool!" Excallibur exclaimed, waving around his cane, "We should always be informed of meetings and such. He may be the guild master, but I am Excalibur! The most powerful weapon in the world! I should always be present at such events!"

As Excalibur continued to rant, Maka felt Soul tug on her arm, "Come on," he said, "Let's go, I don't want to put up with this."

She nodded in agreement and followed Soul out of the vincity of Hiro and Excalibur.

"My legend stretches back to the twelfth century! Would you like to hear it? Anyone? Hiro, you stay right there! This is one of the thousand tasks required to be my meister, as you recall. Very well then, I shall begin…"


End file.
